Patagonia boosts its search

In order to better assist customers searching for its products, Patagonia has hired Where 2 Get It to implement location-based search technologies on its Web site.

Where 2 Get It provides online and mobile business and product locators for manufacturers and retailers. Patagonia, a global outdoor apparel manufacturer and retailer, used Where 2 Get It to develop its Find Patagonia retail store locator and its dealer locator, according to Bill Boland, creative director for Patagonia.com.

“For us, it's a way for providing the best customer service available,” Boland said of Patagonia.com's new features. “We're trying to do everything we can to help them find that Patagonia product.”

Patagonia previously used another vendor to provide its retail store locator function. However, the company switched to Where 2 Get It after seeing the advantage of bundling both the store and dealer locators with one company, Boland said.

The general store locator assists users in finding Patagonia retail stores across the globe, while the dealer locator feature allows consumers to look for other online locations where products can be found.

For example, after users select a given product on the Patagonia Web site and indicate the size and color desired, they can purchase the product from that site, or click on a button titled “online partners.” This action opens a box listing alternative locations where the specific product they selected can be purchased — like moosejaw.com or rockcreek.com. Even if the product is in stock on Patagonia.com, the feature allows users to purchase it elsewhere.

“We knew that some of our dealers had these products in stock when we knew we didn't,” Boland explained. “It's pretty unique for a manufacture to allow a customer to leave its site.”

Since the feature was launched about two months ago, it has been “really enthusiastically” received by Patagonia's dealers, Boland said. “[Dealers are] buying more products due to the traffic we're driving,” he continued.

In addition to Patagonia, Anaheim, CA-based Where 2 Get It's clients include Olive Garden, Reebok and Sony.